Hallel Rosh Chodesh Tevet Part Two

“Neither the dead can praise the Creator, nor any who descend into silence; but we will bless the Creator from this time and forever (Psalm 115:18).”

God had warned the inhabitants of Jerusalem, through Jeremiah, that the Babylonians would be coming, and that they would be victorious. God instructed them to repent and to leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians.

The people refused to listen to Jeremiah. They preferred death to surrender.

This paragraph of the Hallel is a celebration of the potential of life, “the dead cannot praise the Creator.” The inhabitants of Jerusalem were so devastated by all that happened since the Babylonians rose to power, that they lost their connection to life. They ceased to see that alive, they would have the opportunity to rebuild. They stopped believing that alive, they could still live a life of blessing.

Once they disconnected from the potential of life; they disconnected from God as the Creator of heaven and earth.

On Hanukkah, our souls vibrate with the potential of life, and of purpose. On Hanukkah we connect to life at its source; God. On Hanukkah we sing this paragraph as a celebration of life, potential, and blessing, so that we will never allow ourselves to stand as those people did so long ago in Jerusalem.

Paragraphs Five & Six

In this paragraph and the next, King David is expressing gratitude for deliverance. When he thought he was at death’s door, he cried out to God. He expresses his gratitude through the medium of praise in the presence of an assembled congregation, and that what appears to be a private event, is inseparable from the life of the community. All the people share each other’s joys and sorrows, and so, King David summons them to celebrate with him.

This is the theme of this paragraph of the Hallel, Psalm 116, as it is the theme of the Hanukkah Psalm # 30.

Both these Psalms were part of our liturgy even as the Babylonian hordes approached Jerusalem. Imagine how different the story would have been if only we had reconnected to King David’s voice reminding us of the power of prayer, the impact of repentance, and the promise to express our gratitude to God upon salvation!